Bright Spark Scholarships For Solihull Students

Bright Spark Scholarships For Solihull Students

National children’s charity Young Pioneers, has announced that Grace Academies in Solihull, Darlaston and Coventry will be the first Academies in the UK to benefit from ten new Bright Spark Scholarships, funded by National Grid.

The Bright Spark Scholarship, developed by Young Pioneers, is designed to empower vulnerable young people to overcome adversity, giving them valuable life and business skills to help them break out of their circumstances and be inspired to achieve their full potential.

Working closely with mentors from the charity, students selected for the Bright Spark Scholarship will be trained as Youth Technology Trainers.

Successful students will be expected to work with, and train, adults in some of the leading businesses in the UK, as well as training children and teachers in local schools, and will run a national showcase of their skills at the Big Bang Fair at the National Exhibition Centre (NEC) in March 2015.

Speaking about the new Bright Spark Scholarship programme, Luke Lancaster, Chief Executive Officer of Young Pioneers, which he founded at the age of twelve after he was bullied at school, said:

“The support of National Grid and their partners has been amazing. The Bright Spark Scholarship is ground breaking in realising the potential of vulnerable young people to be successful in life. We chose to work with Grace Academy because of their ethos and outstanding commitment to supporting their young people. We are very excited about starting the programme and working with these young people to showcase their skills at the NEC.”

Darren Gelder, Principal at Grace Academy Solihull, said:

“This is an incredible opportunity for our students to work with some of the top corporate businesses in the UK and globally, as well as bringing our students into contact with cutting edge technology. It is especially pleasing that we were chosen to be the only Academies involved in this project in the UK and the life chances that this brings for our students is huge.  Having worked with Young Pioneers previously, I am very aware of the exceptional work they do. We see this as the start of a long-term relationship with Young Pioneers and its corporate supporters.”

George Mayhew, Corporate Affairs Director at National Grid added:

“At National Grid we think a lot about how we’re going to deliver gas and electricity to homes and businesses well into the future. But for us, it’s also important to think not just about how we help keep lights on and homes warm, but how we invest in creating a better society for the future.

“Our Bright Spark programme believes that there is a spark in every child that can grow into something great. The work that Young Pioneers is doing is exactly that, it’s helping young people to realise their own potential, to explode stereotypes and access hidden talent. That is exactly why we’re proud to be supporting the Young Pioneers Bright Spark Scholarship at the Grace Academies.”